The Golden State Warriors are hoping to shock the NBA world by having a strong success. Most pundits expect a terrible season for the Warriors since Stephen Curry has no teammates near All-Star status. Jimmy Butler is a multi-time All-Star, but he’s expected to miss a large portion of the season due to injury. Over/under betting props often tell the story of what the general population thinks of a team.
Bet MGM currently has the Warriors with an over/under of 40.5 wins as the eighth best team in the Western Conference:
Oklahoma City Thunder: 62.5
San Antonio Spurs: 59.5
Denver Nuggets: 49.5
Minnesota Timberwolves: 48.5
Houston Rockets: 47.5
Los Angeles Lakers: 46.5
Portland Trail Blazers: 42.5
Warriors: 40.5
The Warriors are clearly behind the top six seeds in the projections to make it extremely unlikely they’ll avoid the play in. Any chance of moving up would require Curry to have an MVP level season and for talents like Kristaps Porzingis and Draymond Green to have strong seasons.
An eighth seed placement would see the Warriors having two chances to win a game to make the playoffs as improvement from last season. Golden State won just 37 games last season and was eliminated by the Phoenix Suns with a chance to get to the final playoff spot.
How The Golden State Warriors Can Overachieve
Portland is the only team ranked above Golden State close within the win projections and who the Warriors can easily surpass. Unfortunately, injuries to players like Nikola Jokic or Anthony Edwards are the only way for the Warriors to jump pass some teams above them.
Every year sees multiple teams dealing with season-changing injuries that destroy their preseason hopes. Golden State must avoid being one of those teams, especially with Butler and Moses Moody starting the season inactive.
However, they must also take advantage of other teams having bad luck and underperforming. A trade for someone like Anthony Davis or Kevin Durant could also change their fortune, but that remains a long shot. Many things must happen for the Warriors to even get the sixth seed.
How Golden State Warriors Can Underachieve
The Suns and Utah Jazz are the teams projected below Golden State as the late play in seeds with 38.5 and 35.5 over/under props. Phoenix looked strong last season with Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green doing well in a new system behind Devin Booker’s leadership.
Utah has two All-Star caliber players in Jaren Jackson and Lauri Markkanen along with young depth more impressive than the Warriors. Any injury forcing Curry out for more than a few games can see Golden State falling behind if these other teams get off to a hot start.
Everything comes back to Curry’s health, Butler’s return, and whether the team adds a game changer via the trade block. General Manager Mike Dunleavy will have immense pressure on him to prove he deserves the job if the team struggles again. Warriors fans badly want to see Curry end his career with league relevance, but the team needs to win for that to happen.
Warriors Projected To Improve From Last Season’s Disaster